The present invention relates to an elevator group management and control apparatus that efficiently manages and controls a plurality of elevators.
Usually, in a building in which a plurality of elevators are installed, elevators are subjected to group management and control. The group management and control apparatus has a variety of functions and the most basic function is to improve a transportation efficiency. A specific function for improving the transportation efficiency is roughly classified into the following two types.
(1) Hall call allocation function
(2) Car distribution control function
The hall call allocation function is to determine an optimum car for allocation when a hall call occurs in a hall. Also, during morning rush time, a plurality of cars are allocated at a lobby floor, and the car distribution control function is to allocate and forward the car regardless of the presence/absence of hall call occurrence.
Once, there was mainly used a system in which, when assuming that the respective elevators are allocated to the above hall calls, a group management performance such as a waiting time is evaluated by using a certain evaluation expression to determine the response car. Also, in the recent years, an artificial intelligence (AI) technology or the like is introduced into the group management and control in which the group management and control is conducted using a large number of rule groups. However, most of these rule groups are fixed and a part of rule groups may be subjected to parameter change by learning.
Also, in the recent years, as disclosed in, for example, JP-A-6-156893, there has been proposed a method in which a simulation function is incorporated in the group management and control apparatus, and the group management performance in the case of using a constant control system is subjected to simulation. However, even in this method, it is only possible to conduct simulation in which the parameter contained in the hall call allocation evaluation expression is changed, and the valid/invalid changing of many rule groups used for the group management or changing the combination thereof is not realized. This is because if simulation is conducted for all these cases, enormous computation time is required, thereby being incapable of being incorporated into the practical product.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator group management and control apparatus which is capable of always using an optimum rule group to implement group management and control.
According to the present invention, there is provided an elevator group management and control apparatus that manages and controls a plurality of elevators as one group, the elevator group management and control apparatus comprising: traffic demand detecting means for detecting the traffic demands of a plurality of elevators; traffic demand predicting means for predicting the traffic demand of the near future on the basis of the detected traffic demand; predicted traffic pattern discriminating means for discriminating the traffic pattern of the near future in accordance with the predicted result of the traffic demand; rule group candidate generating means for automatically generating a plurality of candidates from the group management and control rule groups to be applied in the near future on the basis of the traffic pattern which has been at least predicted and discriminated; rule group evaluating and selecting means for evaluating and selecting the candidate of the respective rule groups which have been generated; and operation control means for performing control by using the selected rule group.
Also, the rule group evaluating and selecting means predicts and evaluates the group management performance through simulation with respect to the predicted traffic demand in the case where the candidates of the respective rule groups are applied.
Further, the rule group candidate generating means picks up a number of rule groups from predetermined basic rule groups or makes various combinations of rule groups whose parameters have been changed on the basis of the discrimination result of the predicted traffic pattern discriminating means to automatically generate a plurality of candidates of the group management and control rule groups.
Still further, the rule group candidate generating means includes as standard rule groups corresponding to the predicted traffic pattern at least more than one of a fixed rule group which is always applied to a specific traffic pattern, a variable rule group which is not applied depending on a traffic circumstance, and a parameter rule group with a parameter value, and generates the candidates of the respective rule groups by combining the valid/invalid of the respective variable rules of the variable rule group and the changed parameter values of the respective parameter rules of the parameter rule group.
Yet still further, the rule group candidate generating means judges whether or not the traffic pattern has changed on the basis of the discrimination result of the predicted traffic pattern discriminating means, and generates the rule group candidate with respect to the parameter value of the parameter rule which is set to the standard value or to values in the vicinity of the standard value if the traffic pattern has changed, and with respect to the parameter value of the parameter rule which is set to the value previously set by the optimum rule group and to values in the vicinity of that value if the traffic pattern has not changed.